In the first line of “All I Was Doing Was Breathing,” the poet explains that she has been, so to speak, taken hold of by a force she identifies at first only as “something.” The process is mysterious. The “something” actively reaches out and seemingly absorbs into itself some essence of the speaker that emanates, or radiates, from her eyes (“the beams of my eyes”). The light from the eyes is presented as a tangible, or concrete, thing that can be taken in by another being. Some as yet unspecified spiritual exchange has been accomplished.

In the second line, the poet reveals how she longs for this “something,” although she does not say, “I have a longing,” Her phrase, “There is a longing,” is impersonal, which suggests that the desire may be more universal than the desire of one individual. This longing may be part...